Black Milk - Welcome (Gotta Go)

Calling your LP the Album of the Year creates a very high standard to live up to, but Detroit native Black Milk not only seems to happy to craft sky high expectations, but delivers a single that helps back up his boasting. On Welcome (Gotta Go), the producer/emcee crafts a ferociously spooky instrumental (think Michael Myers meets Kanye) that features haunting background vocals and somber lyrics to match. Sporting a dense, action-packed flow that weaves its way in and out of the beat smoother than a serpent, Milk is lyrically dressed to impress as he tears thorough this track like a a college rejection letter with lines about “It’s just business/ it feels good now/ I’m at a point in my life, I wish a ni**a would now.” It seems like the success of other producers/rappers has given this one-time underground emcee an immense amount of confidence, and I can’t say I’m mad at it. Can Milk actually deliver the Album of the Year? We’ll find out on Sept. 14.